June 19, 2013

potty time

We interrupt our regular scheduled design post for a bit of mother-related talk and baby pictures. We've got some big news in this house. The moment all parents look forward to with excitement and dread.

Eve is ready for potty training.

All the signs are there and I'm more than ready to be done with diapers. And while Eve is my sweet and always-happy-to-cuddle daughter, she is also rather...willful. Rules and directions hold no interest for her which, of course, is the exact opposite of Amelia.

With Amelia, I explained what we were going to do, took off the diapers and we hunkered down in the house for three or four days and went cold turkey. No pull ups, just lots of clean ups. But she got it pretty quickly in that classic first child over-achiever kind of way. It was smooth sailing.

Eve, I think, is going to require a different tactic however. So I'm looking for ideas. I've read them all - M&M's, charts, gifts, etc. but I want to know, what worked for you...or your kids rather. How did you potty train your kids?

27 comments:

Ivey (age 2 1/2) is more than ready. She, however, refuses to sit on the potty. She did it a few times and I praised her, gave her rewards, blah blah blah, but now, nothing. Willful is an understatement. I'm at a loss. Good luck and I can't wait to see your tricks!

I can't remember!! My daughter has more of the firstborn type personality and I remember it being very easy. Oh, and I also remember every time things went smoothly she put a sticker of her choice on her potty. She loved stickers and loved covering her potty with them : )

My most dreaded job of motherhood, up there with cleaning up throw up....I frantically potty trained my last on last summer, 2 weeks before preschool started!! It's so much harder when it's not the first because of the activities and what not...I always set a timer for 10-15 minutes and put them on the potty...no rewards but everyone gets VERY excited and takes a peek to see the potty....make sure you have all your supplies, milk, bread, etc...then stay home and bang it out...let her run around naked outside...and don't forget to let her drink lots of fluid so she actually has to go, that was what I forgot to do with the last one!!

Nothing! My youngest is sweet and we reckon the smartest by a mile but toilet training was a nightmare. The only thing that helped (and I use that term loosely) was a DVD called "Potty Power". I found it on Amazon and it plays up the big kid aspect and has a little princess and the potty story.Good luck!

Only have one but she is super willful. i hunkered down for 2 days like you did - no pullups. commando and lots of clean ups. i didn't do rewards b/c she is like a crack addict to rewards. my sis has 4 and swears by just sitting that potty in the bathroom for a while without even mentioning it. she says curiosity usually kills the cat.

I deal with this almost on a daily basis because of my job, but honestly, each family and child has a differnt formula that works for them. But the most common way of ensuring success is this - practice & examples. Practice sitting on the potty for about 5 mins. after EVERY meal and yes, let the trainee watch her older sis doing it! I know sounds gross, but really, for kids, anything big sissie can do, little sissie will sure want to follow! good luck!

When my very willful youngest boy was 3...and still not completely trained...I found the perfect potty training method. Have Grandma do it! We went on vacation and Mimi came to stay with our boys. On day one she took of his pull-ups, put him big boy undies, and that was that! Not one accident. All while I was lazing on the beach in Hawaii. I highly recommend this method!

Hmmm - potty training was a long time ago around here. I think we just went cold turkey too. Once my daughter had an accident, she hated the way it felt on her skin and she caught on real quick. Good luck. How adorable are your kids??>?

My first (daughter) was extremely willful, but my second (boy) was very easy. I think it's just their personalities. It's been a while, so I can't even really remember what we did. Is that sad, or what? Good luck - I know it will all work out in the end (get it? ha, bad joke)!

I tried to train at 2.5 and he crie Although he was ready physically (dry overnight, dry after naps, told me when he needed a diaper change), he did not want to use the potty. However, several months later he just started going all by himself. I had to do nothing to train him...all because the other boys at his preschool did it! He went into underwear several days later, underwear overnight within a week, and we've had probably 6 accidents total (including overnight) in a year. I guess my advice is to let her tell you she's ready. My 19 month old is very curious about potty and wants to sit after her brother, but I am not pushing it because she never wakes up dry!!! That's just my 5 cents! Good luck.

Sheila is great at night and goes on the potty before bed, but during the day it's party time and is not interested in the potty at all. I'm trying to not worry about b/c I know she'll do it when she's ready but by the end of the summer I think I'll be ready to do cold turkey if we're not there yet - especially with #2 coming any day now. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Girl, I've got to rip the band aid on this too. I potty trained Hank right when he turned two... It was a breeze... Two days of no pants, juice, m&ms and surprises, and done! Worth, on the other hand, is showing no signs of able and ready. What do I do!? How old is Eve? Please share your progress! Thinking of you!!Whitley

Lord, Xavier is 19 months and we've started (maybe too early?) because he definitely thinks it's just a new toy to play with. We'll see how things go this weekend. Them diaper prices aint no joke. Good luck to us all.

I just didn t start too early 3 or 3 and a half . The potty was out but not mentioned and we got to the point where they practically begged to use it.Did this with three children and it was pretty painless. It was probably the lazy way as I didn t want to be clearing up too many accidents, which I didn t have to . With my first I felt a great pressure from other mothers I knew who boasted how early their child was potty trained ( without mentioning the many accidents) and I didn t want to be dragged into the race.